Viability of an untwinked spearazon in HC?

[SuicideSong]

Viability of an untwinked spearazon in HC?

Question pretty much explains itself -- would I be able to sufficiently make it through hell as a spearazon from scratch, and if so, what would be an optimal build? [edit] Forgot to mention I play HC only

Thanks in advance

 

[Yogirat]

Well, I recently moved back to sc to play a spearie fender and while I wouldn't say it's impossible, I think it would be the toughest build to finish this game HC untwinked. It has been done, but the narative about it is on competing website that shall remain nameless.(it's initials are the first two letters of the alphabet.)

Fend is still bugged. To put it simply, if you have points into the dodge skills and they activate during your attack, the attack will be interupted. You won't see it though, there is a server/client desync and your zon will appear to be attacking when she really isn't.This is Fend whiff. Jab is also affected, but it is less noticable due to it's fast attack speed.

Right from the start you have to make the decsion, dodge or no dodge. I went no dodge and maxed Fend. This is an amazing skill. The phyiscal damage bonus from it combined with a good spear make Barbs look like wimps compared to her. She is also a human punching bag with no Valk. Going into hit recovery interupts attack also.

If you go the dodge route, don't do it half way, put in big points, make it work for you. You'd be a tankazon using Jab, the one point wonder. You will miss a lot, but you might make lt through the game alive.

Hope this helps a little.

 

[SSoG]

How viable Spearazons are in HC really depends on two things- whether you go physical or lightning, and just how good of a player you are. I have friends who refer to Spearazons as "suicide on a stick". I've known people who made guardian with one... but I also knew someone who made guardian without assigning a single skill point whatsoever. If you're good enough, you can make guardian with almost anything.

I would strongly recommend against a Spearazon as your 1st hardcore character. If it's your 20th, and you already have a dozen guardians, then feel free to give it a try, but understand that it'll be the toughest thing you've ever tried. It ranks way up there with meleemancers in terms of "builds you'd have to be crazy to try". Jabazons, Impaleazons, and Fendazons all suffer from all sorts of bugs, challenges, problems, etc.

Lightning Spearazons are much, much easier than physical spearazons, but they're still tough. It helps that you can pump D/A/E to your heart's content. It also helps that you have a substantial source of damage that's entirely weapon-independent (LS or CS), as well as very strong physical support (Jab or Valk)- plus you've got a nice handy built-in IM solution. Lightning Strike is bugged, and is the more difficult skill to use properly (monster spacing is everything- too far apart or too close together and your Lightning will sizzle before it arcs to its full potential, and the NextDelay means you're better off swinging once and waiting than you are constantly swinging), but even that's viable. I've personally taken a Lightning Spearazon through Hell. It was softcore, but I had no deaths, so I know it's viable. Difficult, but hardly suicidal like Fendazons. With proper Valk and Decoy usage, I'd probably rank it on par with a Tesladin or a Frenzy Barb in terms of difficulty.